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LIVIN’ LA VIDA LOCA! Ride-sharing app LOCA helps you get around like a local. TEXT BY CAMERON DARKE PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHOONSAB THEVONGSA
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ot surprisingly, to make my way over to LOCA headquarters for this story, I downloaded and installed the LOCA app. A vehicle was sent to my office to pick me up, and I tracked its progress on my mobile phone until a small, unassuming hatchback pulled neatly up against the curb. A message appeared on my screen; “I am here.” I hopped in the front seat and was greeted with a shy smile from Pui, my designated driver for the trip. Pui says most of her passengers are foreigners already familiar with the ride-sharing concept. They are often business travelers visiting the city for the first time, taking a LOCA trip from meeting to meeting. She is one of the few full-time LOCA drivers who works Monday to Friday. “My family has no idea what I’m doing. They don’t understand exactly what LOCA is. But they are happy that I’m working,” she says, noting that before LOCA she was unemployed. “I worked as a delivery driver a few years ago. I liked the freedom it gave me, so I thought I’d try this. I get to be my own boss and I meet a lot of new people.”
